Once-precocious teens not averse to discussing their mental health struggles, Amanda Anisimova and Marta Kostyuk are aligning at Australian Open 2024. On Friday, they both progressed through to the second week.
DRAW: Australian Open 2024 women’s singles
Anisimova has yet to drop a set at the tournament and beat the returning Paula Badosa 7-5 6-4 in the third round, whereas Kostyuk won her third consecutive three-setter, 2-6 6-4 6-4, against one of last year’s breakthrough artists, Elina Avanesyan.
Anisimova said she suffered from “bad stomach cramps” but that a medical timeout helped against the former world No.2, who would have faced one of her best friends, Aryna Sabalenka, in the fourth round.
Instead, it is Anisimova who meets the defending champion in a rematch of their clash at AO 2019 – when Anisimova prevailed.
The 22-year-old stepped away from the game last year, writing on social media that she had been struggling with her “mental health and burnout since the summer of (2022). It’s become unbearable being at tennis tournaments.”
That after the death of her father, Konstantin, in 2019, which she told the New York Post was the “worst thing that ever happened” to her.
Anisimova went to school in Florida last year, did volunteer work and painted, with proceeds from the sale of her artwork going to charity.
She simply had more free time in general.
“I slowed my life down and that's something that I really needed,” she told WTA Insider.
But she always planned a return to tennis – with possibly AO 2024 as her comeback Grand Slam. It materialised, preceded by her participation in Auckland.
“I still considered myself an athlete, and I was still going to the gym every day and staying active,” Anisimova said.
“It's also a big part of my identity. I expected to come back, so I definitely wasn't going to be losing that part of myself.”
Besides Badosa, Anisimova has defeated 13th seed Liudmila Samsonova and former Grand Slam semifinalist Nadia Podoroska at AO 2024.
“I'm really proud of myself,” she said. “I wasn't sure I should expect to do well because a lot of people were telling me, ‘Don't put too much expectations on yourself. You've taken a lot of time off. Don't get too down on yourself if you don't do well at these tournaments.’
“I kind of took that in a little bit, but I still expected a lot out of myself. At the same time I was going to be happy whether I lose in the first round or if I do well. So, I was going in with that approach.”
“First of all, I'm happy that she's back on tour,” said Sabalenka. “Secondly, we had a lot of great matches against each other, always tough battles.”
Indeed. Their last three duels extended to three sets but Anisimova leads 4-1 in their head-to-heads overall.
Glad to be back
Kostyuk went all the way again against Avanesyan, breaking early in both the second and third sets.
“She was closer than I thought to the win,” said Kostyuk. “I really grabbed it out of her hands. Very, very happy with the win.”
The match lasted two-and-a-half hours, after Kostyuk had played for three hours against Elise Mertens and begun with a two-hour victory over Claire Liu.
Making her splash at AO 2018 as a 15-year-old qualifier proved to be both a blessing and curse for the Ukrainian.
She became the youngest player to make the third round since Martina Hingis in 1996, her all-around game drawing high praise.
But when immediate success didn’t follow and those around her age passed her in the rankings, Kostyuk found it difficult to cope.
"I used to have that pressure because there were a lot of girls who achieved big things before me,” Kostyuk told reporters in 2021, adding to WTA Insider: “I would stick to that Australian Open for so long in my life. It was such a big deal and I just couldn’t let that go.”
Yet Kostyuk finds herself in a Grand Slam fourth round for the second time – matching Roland-Garros 2021 – is set to eclipse her career high ranking of 32, and celebrated a joyous occasion in the off-season, getting married.
“It's been a long process and a lot of work has been done, but obviously [I’m] very happy to come back to my personal record stage after almost three years,” she said. Kostyuk will play qualifier Maria Timofeeva in the fourth round.
Kostyuk told ausopen.com this year that she even felt comfortable enough to watch highlights of that 2018 performance.
“I was so young. Doesn’t mean I was better or worse, but it was just a different time and a lot to take from it,” she said.
She and Anisimova remain young and the duo are still in contention to go even deeper at AO 2024.